PLEASE FORWARD/POST AS APPROPRIATE
================================================================
mini-Annals of Improbable Research ("mini-AIR")
Issue Number 2002-12
December, 2002
ISSN 1076-500X
Key words: improbable research, science humor, Ig Nobel, AIR, the
----------------------------------------------------------------
A free newsletter of tidbits too tiny to fit in the
Annals of Improbable Research (AIR),
the journal of inflated research and personalities
================================================================
-----------------------------
2002-12-01 TABLE OF CONTENTS
2002-12-01 Table of Contents
2002-12-02 Soon...
2002-12-03 What's New in the Magazine
2002-12-04 Luxuriant Flowing Hair News
2002-12-05 Micro-Stardom in Denver
2002-12-06 Pocket-Gopher-Lice Poets
2002-12-07 Oliver and the Elements
2002-12-08 No Words
2002-12-09 The Anguish of Spaghetti, Revisited
2002-12-10 Knotted Anguish
2002-12-11 Shopping and the Brain
2002-12-12 Improbable Science Books
2002-12-13 Sheepish Thermodynamics Limerick Contest
2002-12-14 Season's Watery Greetings
2002-12-15 BURSTS OF HotAIR: Anti-Money Conference, etc.
2002-12-16 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT: Inevitable Breakthrough
2002-12-17 MAY WE RECOMMEND: Flighty, Hopping and Fick
2002-12-18 AIRhead Events
2002-12-19 How to Subscribe to AIR (*)
2002-12-20 Our Address (*)
2002-12-21 Please Forward/Post This Issue! (*)
2002-12-22 How to Receive mini-AIR, etc. (*)
Items marked (*) are reprinted in every issue.
mini-AIR is
a free monthly *e-supplement* to AIR, the print magazine
----------------------------------------------------------
2002-12-02 Soon...
On TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, Christmas eve (Tokyo time),
watch a special TV documentary about the Ig Nobel Prizes
on NHK, Japan's public television network.
For details, see Section 2002-12-18 below.
----------------------------------------------------------
2002-12-03 What's New in the Magazine
AIR 8:6 (November/December 2002) is the special ART & SCIENCE
ISSUE. It will be emerging from the printers any day now.
Highlights include:
<> "The Tring Tiles," by Ayers Bagley. A look at one of the most
curious -- and curiously overlooked -- exhibits in the British
Museum: a set of thirteenth-century tiles from a church in Tring,
England. The tiles are believed to depict non-biblical stories
about childhood miracles and misadventures of Jesus, but they
strongly resemble episodes from the modern cartoon series "South
Park."
<> "Libretto for 'Il Destino di Grant Application,'" by Lloyd
Fricker. The complete partial description of the alleged opera,
with newly discovered photographs.
<> "The Avian Bombing Target Experiment," by Jeff Van Bueren. The
author tested birds' ability to drop their load on a large
bullseye.
<> "Cosmic Headlights and the Origin of Gamma Ray Bursts," by Eric
J. Heller. The author presents an automotive argument to explain a
curiously puzzling appearance of intense, very sudden flashes in
many parts of the cosmos.
<> ... and much, much more...
(What you are reading at this moment
is mini-AIR,
which is just
a wee, small,
monthly e-mail supplement to the print magazine.)
----------------------------------------------------------
2002-12-04 Luxuriant Flowing Hair News
These are heady times for the Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for
Scientists (LFHCfS). In recent weeks, the club has seen (a) its
first resignation due to haircut; and (b) the first simultaneous
membership of three Luxuriantly Flowing Tressed Scientific
sisters. The Club's home page is, as ever, at
----------------------------------------------------------
2002-12-05 Micro-Stardom in Denver
If you are an accomplished singer and/or pianist, and will be
attending the AAAS Annual meeting in Denver, and would like to be
part of the AIR show there on Friday night (Valentine's Day), Feb.
14, please get in touch with us ASAP at .
Ditto if you are a published AIR author and will be attending the
meeting and might like to give a wee, little mini-presentation as
part of the show.
----------------------------------------------------------
2002-12-06 Pocket-Gopher-Lice Poets
The judges in the first and last annual POCKET-GOPHER-LICE
LIMERICK COMPETITION were heartened to see how many people could
not stop themselves from composing limericks that explore the the
research report:
"Comparative Body Size Relationships in Pocket Gophers
and Their Chewing Lice," by Serge Morand, et al.,
which explained that:
Our study of gopher hair-shaft diameter and louse
head-groove dimensions suggest that there is a
"lock-and-key" relationship between these
two anatomical features.
[for the full citation, see last month's mini-AIR]
The winning poets and limericks are:
INVESTIGATOR LEILA Z. HADJ-CHIKH:
A louse that could leave like a rocket
Stayed put on a Thomomy's pocket.
The louse only gripped
On gophers equipped
With hairs that could fit in its socket.
INVESTIGATOR GREG CARTER:
Pocket Gopher said, "Isn't that nice?
They've been researching my chewing lice,
And the width of my hair
Doth directly compare
With the size of their head-groove device!"
INVESTIGATOR JUDITH PHILIP:
A louse wanted a chew
at a pocket gopher or two.
He chose for his host
one whose fur was the most
fitting. Well, wouldn't you?
INVESTIGATOR GARY DRYFOOS:
As the hair on our gopher grows thicker
So, too, do the lice there that lick 'er.
Pocket-gopher/louse teething
's a "lock-and-a-key" thing.
The lice just get fatter, and snicker.
These and several notable runners-up will be featured later this
month on the AIR web site.
----------------------------------------------------------
2002-12-07 Oliver and the Elements
2002 Ig Nobel Chemistry Prize winner Theodore Gray writes:
I thought some of you might like to see my write up of the
events of the day Oliver Sacks came to visit
my Periodic Table Table:
----------------------------------------------------------
2002-12-08 No Words
We have been asked to comment on the existence of a publication
named "The Digital Urology Journal" . We have
declined.
----------------------------------------------------------
2002-12-09 The Anguish of Spaghetti, Revisited
"Spaghetti" is the subject of INVESTIGATOR ADRIANO MELIS's note,
published here last month. "Lengthy, tangled, and well worth
chewing on" is not a bad way to describe the reaction that
investigator Melis's note provoked in the scientific community.
Melis was, perhaps in a too-hasty frenzy of scientific excitement,
commenting on the report that appears at
.
Here is a sampling of the Melis-corrective commentary that is
pouring in to our office:
INVESTIGATOR R. DANCA:
The researcher's statement that typical spaghetti take 30 seconds
to cook is to me, a reasonably typical Italian specimen, simply
astounding. Hand-made spaghetti takes about 30 seconds to cook.
It's the dried stuff in the grocery store that takes 7 to 10
minutes.
INVESTIGATOR M. DE CASTRO BASTOS:
Looking at the original report, two things struck my attention:
1- The original report mentioned THAWING times for FROZEN
spaghetti. Not the same as cooking time at all.
2- The original research was made in Japan, and the researchers
were Japanese, but the report was made by Reuters, an Western news
service. Some westerners have been known to mistake Japanese-style
noodles (ramen) for true spaghetti. Maybe it was not spaghetti at
all!
----------------------------------------------------------
2002-12-10 Knotted Anguish
Anguish was evident, too, in notes we received from knot
mathematicians who saw INVESTIGATOR JONATHAN ADAMS's note here
last month about obscure journals. INVESTIGATOR Susan Williams
summed the knot community's feelings:
The Journal of Knot Theory and its Ramifications
will never rise to the ranks of the outstandingly obscure
unless it trims its 50-member editorial board. The
journal's circulation must number at least 51, since
each editor gets a free copy, and the University of South
Alabama library has a paid subscription.
----------------------------------------------------------
2002-12-11 Shopping and the Brain
There are people who will buy anything, and an organization called
BrightHouse Institute for Thought Sciences says it wants to study
these people's brains using functional magnetic imaging (fMRI). We
wish them lots of luck. The BrightHouse Institute for Thought
Sciences, by the way, is owned by an advertising agency, several
of whose top employees have the official job title "Thinker."
The tip of the iceberg can be seen at
----------------------------------------------------------
2002-12-12 Improbable Science Books
Every holiday season we are inundated with books that people want
us to review. Many of these books are both (a) funny and (b) about
science -- but not at all in the way their authors apparently
intended. Here are four OTHER recent books -- books that we
enjoyed very, very much.
"How to Dunk a Doughnut: The Science of Everyday Life,"
by Len Fisher, ISBN 0297607561. The 1999 Ig Nobel Physics Prize
winner makes the scientific aspects of doughnut dunking as
appetizing and satisfying as the dunking itself. He also makes a
lot of other commonplace activities -- things you'd seldom hear
mentioned in school -- more interesting than most things that do
get discussed in classrooms.
"Right Hand, Left Hand,"
by Chris McManus, ISBN 0297645978 and 0674009533. The 2002 Ig
Nobel Medicine Prize winner gives a rollicking fingers-to-atoms
explanation (with plenty of technical insight) of the biological
wonder of handedness.
"The Science of Harry Potter,"
by Roger Highfield. ISBN 0755311507 and 0670031534. This book, in
a manner half-Hermionely, half Harryesque, takes an adventurously
wise and clever look at how and why, with a scientific approach,
one might go about pulling off at least some of Hermione and
Harry's magical accomplishments.
"The Ig Nobel Prizes,"
by Marc Abrahams, ISBN 0752851500. The in-depth, juicy, behind-the-
scenes story of what, how, when, and (as much as possible) why most of
the Ig Nobel Prize winners did what they did to earn their Prizes.
[NOTE: we enjoyed writing this book, as well as reading it.]
----------------------------------------------------------
2002-12-13 Sheepish Thermodynamics Limerick Contest
We invite you to enter the first and last annual SHEEPISH
THERMODYNAMICS LIMERICK COMPETITION, for the best (NEWLY
composed!) limerick that elucidates this research report, which
was brought to our attention by investigator Tricia Rogerson:
"Enthalpy, Heat Capacity and Thermal Conductivity of
Boneless Mutton Between -40 and +40 Degrees C,"
Ana M. Tocci, Ethel S.E. Flores, and Rodolfo H. Mascheroni,
Food Science and Technology / Lebensmittel-Wissen
und-Technologie, vol. 30, no. 2, March 1997, pp. 184-91.
RULES: Please make sure your rhymes actually do, and that your
limerick at least pretends to adhere to classic limerick form.
PRIZE: The winning author will receive a free, thermally
conductive copy of an issue of the Annals of Improbable Research.
Send entries (one entry per entrant) to:
SHEEPISH THERMODYNAMICS LIMERICK CONTEST
c/o
----------------------------------------------------------
2002-12-14 Season's Watery Greetings
Jacques Benveniste, the only person who has been awarded two (2)
Ig Nobel Prizes, recently sent us a big hello. You can see it at
.
Benveniste won his first prize for demonstrating, to his
satisfaction, that water has the ability to remember things. His
second prize was for demonstrating, with equal vigor, that these
memories can be transmitted over telephone lines and the internet.
----------------------------------------------------------
2002-12-15 BURSTS OF HotAIR: Anti-Money Conference, etc.
Here are concise, flighty mentions of some of the features we've
posted on HotAIR since last month's mini-AIR came out. See the
whole list by clicking "WHAT'S NEW" at the web site, or go to:
==> The Anti-Money Laundering Conference
==> New Additions to the List of Scholarly Romance Restaurants
==> Edison's Research on Nonverbal Communications
==> Edison's research on Human Topology
THESE, AND MORE, ARE ON HOTAIR AT
-----------------------------------------------------------
2002-12-16 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT: Inevitable Breakthrough
Each month we select for your special attention a research report
that seems especially worth a close read. Your librarian will
enjoy being asked (loudly, so other library patrons can hear it)
for a copy. Here is this month's Pick of the Month:
"Food and Drink Packaging: Who is Complaining and Who
Should Be Complaining,"
Belinda Winder, Keith Ridgway, Amy Nelson,
and James Baldwin, Applied Ergonomics, vol. 33, no. 5,
September 2002, pp. 433-43.The authors, who are at
the University of Sheffield, report that:
Analyses on who suffered the most serious accidents and
injuries whilst opening food and drink packaging revealed
that the decision-making style of social resistance (that is,
the extent to which you resist asking for help from others)
was related to susceptibility to the most severe accidents....
[M]anufacturers of packaging should always look at a 'worst
case scenario' for their packaging closures as it is evident
that some people will continue to struggle with difficult
packaging until either they open it or they have injured
themselves.
-----------------------------------------------------------
2002-12-17 MAY WE RECOMMEND: Flighty, Hopping and Fick
ETIQUETTE AMONG THE FLIGHTY
"Sister, Aunt-Niece, and Cousin Recognition by Social Wasps," G.J.
Gamboa, Behavior Genetics, vol. 18, no. 4, July 1988, pp. 409-23.
INFINITE CORRELATED HOPPING
"Correlated Hopping in Infinite Dimensions: Rigorous Local
Approach," A.M. Shvaika,
(Thanks to Melissa Shreve for bringing this to our attention.)
FICK: FOOD
"On the Application of Fick's Law for the Kinetic Analysis of Air
Drying of Foods," L. M. Vaccarezza and J. Chirife, Journal of Food
Science, vol. 43, 1978, pp. 236-8. (Thanks to Fred Frank for
bringing this to our attention.)
------------------------------------------------------------
2002-12-18 AIRhead Events
==> For details and updates see
==> Want to host an event? 617-491-4437
NHK TELEVISION -- TUES, DEC. 24, 2002
9:15 p.m. Tokyo time.
Special, festive Ig Nobel documentary prepared by, and broadcast
on, the Japanese public television network.
INFO:
AAAS ANNUAL MEETING, DENVER --FRI EVENING, FEBRUARY 14, 2003
Special Annals of Improbable Research session at
the Annual Meeting of the American Assn
for the Advancement of Science. Featuring:
* AIR Editor MARC ABRAHAMS
* 2001 Ig Nobel Biology Prize winner BUCK WEIMER
* 1994 Ig Nobel Medicine Prize co-winner RICHARD DART
and others TBA
MICHIGAN TECH, HOUGHTON, MI -- MON, APRIL 8, 2003
8:00 PM, Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts
INFO: Valerie Pegg, vepegg@mtu.edu, 906-487-2844
--------------------------------------------------------------
2002-12-19 How to Subscribe to AIR (*)
Here's how to subscribe to the magnificent bi-monthly print
journal The Annals of Improbable Research (the real thing, not
just the little bits of overflow material you've been reading in
this newsletter).
................................................................
Name:
Address:
Address:
City and State:
Zip or postal code:
Country
Phone: FAX: E-mail:
................................................................
SUBSCRIPTIONS (6 issues per year):
USA 1 yr/$29 2 yrs/$53
Canada/Mexico 1 yr/$33 US 2 yrs/$57 US
Overseas 1 yr/$45 US 2 yrs/$82 US
................................................................
BACK ISSUES are available, too:
First issue: $8 USA, $11 Canada/Mex, $16 overseas Add'l issues
purchased at same time: $6 each
................................................................
Send payment (US bank check, or international money order, or
Visa, Mastercard or Discover info) to:
Annals of Improbable Research (AIR)
PO Box 380853, Cambridge, MA 02238 USA
617-491-4437 FAX:617-661-0927
-----------------------------------------------------
2002-12-20 Our Address (*)
Annals of Improbable Research (AIR)
PO Box 380853, Cambridge, MA 02238 USA
617-491-4437 FAX:617-661-0927
EDITORIAL: marca@chem2.harvard.edu
SUBSCRIPTIONS: air@improbable.com
WEB SITE:
---------------------------
2002-12-21 Please Forward/Post This Issue! (*)
Please distribute copies of mini-AIR (or excerpts!) wherever
appropriate. The only limitations are: A) Please indicate that the
material comes from mini-AIR. B) You may NOT distribute mini-AIR
for commercial purposes.
------------- mini-AIRheads -------------
EDITOR: Marc Abrahams (marca@chem2.harvard.edu)
MINI-PROOFREADER AND PICKER OF NITS (before we introduce the last
few at the last moment): Wendy Mattson
WWW EDITOR/GLOBAL VILLAGE IDIOT: Amy Gorin
(airmaster@improbable.com)
COMMUTATIVE EDITOR: Stanley Eigen (eigen@neu.edu)
ASSOCIATIVE EDITOR: Mark Dionne
DISTRIBUTIVE EDITOR: Robin Pearce
CO-CONSPIRATORS: Alice Shirrell Kaswell, Gary Dryfoos, Ernest
Ersatz, S. Drew
MAITRE DE COMPUTATION: Jerry Lotto
AUTHORITY FIGURES: Nobel Laureates Dudley Herschbach, Sheldon
Glashow, William Lipscomb, Richard Roberts
(c) copyright 2002, Annals of Improbable Research
-----------------------------------------------------
2002-12-22 How to Receive mini-AIR, etc. (*)
What you are reading right now is mini-AIR. Mini-AIR is a (free!)
tiny monthly *supplement* to the bi-monthly print magazine.
To subscribe, send a brief E-mail message to:
LISTPROC@AIR.HARVARD.EDU
The body of your message should contain ONLY the words
SUBSCRIBE MINI-AIR MARIE CURIE
(You may substitute your own name for that of Madame Curie.)
----------------------------
To stop subscribing, send the following message: SIGNOFF MINI-AIR
============================================================